Nemours Estate Mansion and Gardens in Delaware

May 2022

Years ago, we had visited Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, and Winterthur in nearby Delaware, but we wanted to revisit in the spring, and also wanted to see Nemours Estate. All of these sites were owned by members of the large du Pont family. Well-to-do French immigrant Pierre S. du Pont de Nemours arrived in America in 1800 with his sons; one of whom, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, established a successful gunpowder mill which eventually became the DuPont chemical company. E.I. du Pont’s eldest surviving son, Alfred Victor, was the grandfather of Pierre Samuel, founder of Longwood Gardens, and Pierre’s cousin, Alfred Irenee, founder of Nemours Mansion. Henry Francis du Pont, founder of Winterthur Museum and Gardens, was the grandson of another son of Eleuthere, General Henry. It gets confusing to remember who is who because so many of the names are the same.

We went to Nemours first, and found this estate to be the most interesting because the guides stationed in different rooms were all so friendly and knowledgeable, telling great stories about Alfred and his family. Alfred I. du Pont was somewhat of a pariah to some family members. He scandalized them when he divorced his first wife to marry Alicia, for whom he built Nemours.

Alfred was intelligent and highly educated, and something of a Renaissance man. He installed many new innovations for that time period in his house, such a central vacuum system and a large mechanical room and ice-making system in the basement. He was a composer and musician who could play piano and violin (until he became deaf). He was an astute businessman who kept the du Pont company from being sold outside the family. He had a darkroom for his photography. He was a philanthropist whose trust endowed a children’s hospital that is located on the original estate grounds. There was so much to take in about the house, Alfred, and the du Pont family, that I can’t remember half of it. I wish I could find a book about Alfred and the mansion, but I found only expensive used copies, since they are currently out of print.

The first room you see upon entering the house is the reception room. This blurry phone pic shows the door to the music room on the left and the hallway to the morning room and drawing room on the right. The foyer is to the right of the photo. A portrait of George Washington by James Peale is to the left of the fireplace. Behind me on the other side of the reception room is the library, the writing room where the du Ponts wrote their personal correspondence, the dining room, which leads to the butler’s pantry and kitchen, and the stairway to the upstairs bedrooms.

Below: some of the art found throughout the house. The portrait in the middle of the top row is of Jessie Ball du Pont, Alfred’s 3rd wife, whom he married after Alicia unexpectedly died. The musical clock in the bottom row was commissioned for Marie Antoinette (but she never received it because, well, we all know what happened to her!) A portrait of Pierre du Pont is above the clock.

The conservatory would have been filled with plants. The walls are covered with a trellis.

Below: the dining room.

Below: The mechanical room, with the compressors for the ice-making room and a big wall of switches and gauges, is thought to have been Alfred’s favorite room.

Below: This board in the butler’s pantry would light up to show servants where they were needed. The butler was the most important domestic servant, although the chauffeur was the highest-paid.